Another Day in Paradise
by fembuck
Summary: A brief look into Jean and Emma's life together amid the chaos of life at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Companion piece to "Underneath it All".  Takes place about a year later.  Jean/Emma, Emma/Jean, femslash
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Another Day In Paradise  
**Fandom:** X-Men

**Pairing:** Jean/Emma

**Rating:** PG-13

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, the characters belong to Marvel and I'm just borrowing them for a spell.

**Summary:** A brief look into Jean and Emma's life together amid the chaos of life at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. The story is a companion piece to my story _Underneath it All_, and takes place about a year after the events depicted in that story.

**Note:** Loosely (very loosely) based in the Astonishing verse with the major change of Jean and Emma are a couple and the head mistresses of the institute in Xavier's absence.

xxx

**Part 1**

Frost-Grey Bedroom - Night

Emma stared at the ceiling as she fought a powerful urge to sigh, loudly. Being in the dog house was no fun. She had anticipated that her little stunt would upset Jean, but she didn't think that the redhead would have stayed upset for this long. Of course she knew, theoretically, that telling Jean what she had planned would have been the wisest course of action, but she knew that if she had told her that Jean just would have talked her out of it and that would have been no good since it _had_ been an effective demonstration.

Turning her head to the side, Emma once again took up her night watch over Jean. Her lover had her back turned to her and was lying on her side near the edge of the bed putting as much space as possible between them without actually falling over the edge.

It was almost comical, really.

Almost.

Shifting slightly, Emma tuned onto her side as well and inched her way across the mattress until she was lying behind Jean. She then wrapped her arm around the redhead's waist, spooning her before she placed a soft kiss on her exposed shoulder.

"Stop that," Jean said almost immediately. She hadn't been asleep and she suspected Emma knew that which was why she had slinked on over.

Emma simply continued to softly caress Jean's skin with her lips. She knew that her lover hadn't been asleep. Jean wasn't finding it any easier to sleep all the way over on the other side of the bed than she was.

Even though Jean was mad at her, she still missed her touch.

"Emma, I mean it. Go back over to your side of the bed," Jean said struggling to turn around in the loose circle of Emma's arms so that she could then push the blonde away from her body.

"I can't sleep," Emma responded, almost pouting as she relaxed her body to make it more difficult for Jean to push her away though she didn't obviously put up a fight.

Jean would have found the blonde's expression cute at any other time, but as things were it just made her push harder.

Emma wasn't going to charm or caresses her way out of this.

"Then use the time to think about what you've done," Jean muttered once she managed to get Emma far enough way that they weren't touching anymore.

Emma stared at her for a moment as if considering something and then opened her mouth to speak.

"Don't even think about it," Jean said before Emma could speak, she didn't need telepathy to know that her lover was about to give her some kind of half-assed apology.

Emma leaned back on the bed, a soft exhalation of air escaping her as her head hit the pillow.

"I'm just trying to prepare them," she said softy but seriously, her gaze on the white ceiling above, a surface she had become very familiar with over the past hour. "It's a hostile world out there, even more so than when we were children. Eons ago," she added knowing that normally Jean would find it funny. "We're not doing them any favors by treating them with kid gloves, patting their heads and telling them that everything will be alright, and that love conquers all, and that we should all just stand around in a circle singing _Kumbaya_ while making friendship bracelets and eating cake. They not only need to know how to defend themselves, they need to be aware that there _will_ be a need for them to defend themselves."

Jean was quiet for a long moment after Emma had spoken. She had heard her lover earlier in the day say something about how the homo-sapiens would always hate them at the end of her opening assembly speech, but she had been distracted quieting down and comforting the students in the aftermath of Emma's not so little demonstration. Once order had been returned, she had not been in a very forgiving mood and had chalked up Emma's closing words as an extension of her 'lesson'. However, while her words were dramatic, Jean now realized that she also strongly believed them – which she realized, thinking about some conversations they'd had in the past, shouldn't have surprised her.

"Emma," Jean finally said turning to face the blonde, reaching out for her a moment later and placing her hand on Emma's cheek trying to draw the blonde's eyes over to hers. "I know the Homo-Sapiens disappoint you," she continued when Emma's clear blue eyes landed on her. "They disappoint me too. There are times … I've had moments of doubt too, when I've turned on the television and seen another report about a mutant being attacked, or have accepted another student into the institute that's been kicked out of their school or home. Even Charles had moments of weakness when he wondered if his vision for the future, for humanity, was just a pipe dream," she went on feeling Emma relax under her touch even though her eyes were still watching her intently and curiously.

"Ultimately, despite our disappointments and doubts, what we do here is practice hope. Maybe what you said is true, maybe they will always hate us, maybe Charles has started us on a fools errand. But, maybe one day if we fight hard enough and long enough we can close the divide. I don't know, but what I do know is that I can't live thinking that we're doomed. I can accept finite disappointments but only because my hope is infinite," Jean continued feeling Emma shift under her hand, her eyes momentarily flickering away from Jean's face. "We need to teach these children how to control their powers, we need to teach them how to defend themselves should be the need arise, but we should never teach them fear Emma. Fear is the killer of hope, and when we lose hope they've won."

Emma was quiet when Jean stopped speaking, her eyes dropping away again so that she could watch as her hand came to rest on Jean's hip once again, certain now that the redhead wouldn't pull away. Then she slowly shifted forward until their noses touched, holding Jean close for a second before dipping down to capture her lips, kissing her slowly, softly, a fleeting thought that she could _taste_ Jean's goodness flashing in her mind.

It made her tighten her hold on her lover and deepen the kiss.

She sometimes felt like succubus around Jean, clinging to her desperately, feeding on her decency and light to draw her out of the dark and sustain her, terrified by the thought that one day she might bleed Jean dry.

"Hope has always been a frightful, elusive thing for me," Emma mumbled finally pulling away from Jean's lips, resting her head on the redhead's shoulder as Jean gently brushed some hair off of her face. "I can't do it. Not in the face of endless disappointments."

"You can," Jean replied immediately. "You have," she continued looking down, her eyes traveling over Emma's mane of white-blonde hair. "You're here," she went on as Emma lifted her head from her shoulder and leaned back putting some space between them so that she could see Jean's face, "teaching, looking after the children, preparing them for the future despite the pain that doing so has caused you in the past. You could have given up, used your vast resources to buy an island somewhere and commissioned some kind of giant laser to destroy to planet, or you could have stayed with the Hellfire Club and plotted to take over the government, but you didn't because you believed you could make a difference."

Emma released a sharp puff of air through her nostrils and closed her eyes.

"Sometimes I don't recognize myself through your eyes," the blonde mumbled shaking her head.

She was completely unused to being described with integrity and honor instead of hostility and disgust, and sometimes she wondered if the others were right and Jean was seeing something inside of her that just wasn't there. However, most of the time she preferred to think of herself as a treasure hunt and concluded that Jean had simply arrived at the 'X' first.

She didn't always recognize what Jean saw in her, but she liked the person she was in Jean's eyes.

When Emma stilled again Jean leaned forward and pressed her lips to her lovers tenderly before taking up the position Emma had occupied moments ago, resting her head on the blonde's shoulder.

Even if Emma couldn't see it yet, she believed in her. But, even with that being true, the blonde hadn't really expected – and Jean suspected – didn't really want a sappy response to her statement, so she didn't voice one.

Snuggles however, she knew Emma never turned down.

"You said it was an effective demonstration," Jean said a moment later knowing a change of subject was necessary. She was feeling somewhat emotionally exhausted herself and sensed the same fatigue coming off of Emma. It had been long a day, and was too late at night to continue the conversation they'd been having. She wasn't sure what it said about their lives that discussing the simulated Sentinel attack Emma had thrust on the students during the opening assembly to show them the importance of constant vigilance was a light topic, but she wasn't going to dwell on that at the moment.

"Hmm," Emma said glad for the change in topic, and the physical contact. "During the chaos I scanned the students. Nearly ten percent of them were quite titillated by the prospect of a fight."

Jean frowned at that, it would be a good idea to keep an eye on those students. Despite the rather pessimistic tone of her speech, Emma had mentioned the importance of non-violence which was a very necessary statement. The last thing the institute, the X-Men, or mutants at large needed was a bunch of cowboys that liked loud noises taking things into their own hands.

"Which students …" Jean began.

"I'm not Charles, dear … or you for that matter," Emma interrupted knowing Jean was going to ask which students were excited by the opportunity to fight.

She was slightly annoyed by the question since if Jean had stopped for a half a second to think before speaking she would have remembered that she wasn't nearly as powerful a telepath as the redhead or Xavier.

"I can narrow down the list over the next couple of days, but it'd probably just be easier if you did it," she finished sighing slightly.

"If you want," Jean replied hearing the slight irritation in Emma's voice and knowing that she'd annoyed her a little with the question. The alpha in Emma didn't like any reminders that _anyone_ was a more powerful mutant than her, even if it was her life partner.

"It would be best," Emma responded reaching out for Jean. "Tomorrow," she continued smiling slightly as her hand slipped under the thin silky, spaghetti string tank top Jean was wearing.

Emma was sure that somewhere in the back of Jean's mind the redhead had hoped they would make up, because there was no excuse for wearing something like that to bed if she didn't plan on being at least a little frisky.

"Mmm," was all that Jean managed to get out before she leaned forward and captured Emma's lips, keeping them busy for quite a few hours afterward.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Another Day In Paradise  
**Fandom:** X-Men

**Pairing:** Jean/Emma

**Rating:** PG-13

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, the characters belong to Marvel and I'm just borrowing them for a spell.

**Summary:** A brief look into Jean and Emma's life together amid the chaos of life at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. The story is a companion piece to my story _Underneath it All_, and takes place about a year after the events depicted in that story.

xxx

**Part 2**

Danger Room – Morning - The Next Day

Emma crossed her legs and leaned back, bracing her arms behind her on the most comfortable rock she could find, and then tilted her head back allowing the tropical sunshine to warm her face. Kitty was glaring daggers at her from her left, while Ororo ocularly attacked her from the right. It was just like old times and Emma had to fight the urge to smirk. Her little demonstration the day before hadn't gone over any better with the rest of the team than it had with Jean, and they had not tried to hide their displeasure from her.

Emma was distracted from her teammates hateful gazes a few moments later however, when the doors to the Danger Room opened and Jean and Scott walked in, Scott carrying a large case in his hands, as they made their way over to the rest of the group.

_~What are you two up to?~_ Emma asked as Jean pushed on her shoulders until she shoved over enough that the redhead could take a seat on her rock as well.

Jean simply smiled in response to the question, which made Emma frown and eventually turn away from Jean in a huff when the redhead remained silent.

"I know that we've started off the year rather … colourfully," Jean began once Scott had found a place to sit and nodded at her to begin.

"Actually, I'd say there was a distinct lack of colour," Kitty piped up coldly, eyeing Emma and her completely white ensemble, "and feeling," she continued disdainfully as Emma calmly met her eyes.

"Kitty," Jean said sharply turning her gaze on the young brunette. "I realize that Emma's little stunt yesterday," she continued ignoring the indignant look her lover sent her, "left everyone less than thrilled, and I assure you there will not be a repeat," she continued meeting Emma's eyes for that and holding them for a couple of seconds. "However, there are more important issues that we need to focus our attention on at the moment."

With that said, Jean then inclined her head towards Scott, passing the proverbial conch-shell over to him. Professor Xavier had left her, and to the befuddlement of many, Emma, in charge of the institute after he left, but Scott was still the team leader and she was more than happy to leave the more technical aspects of X-Men operations up to him.

"We're a team," Scott began standing up. "We're a super hero team. And it's time we started acting like one," he continued turning to look at all of the assembled members of the team as he spoke, his eyes lingering on Emma for a quite a while longer than anyone else.

Emma met his gaze blandly for a moment, and then sighed deeply before lowering her head to consider her nails. Scott bristled at the dismissal, as he usually bristled when forced to endure Emma's presence, but Logan interrupted before he could respond to Emma's scorn.

"Hoa, whoa … wait. This is gonna be about tights, isn't it?" Logan growled impatiently, drawing Scott's attention over to him.

"Don't worry, dear. They'll be thermal," Emma piped up, smiling as she turned to face Logan. "You won't have to worry if it's cold out," she continued, dropping her gaze to eyeball his crotch.

Despite herself, Jean's lips curved up into a smile, but she quickly lifted her hand to cover mouth when Logan's brows creased together until he was glowering at Emma.

"Don't matter how cold it is outside," Logan muttered darkly still scowling at Emma, "there's always something to see."

Emma's smile widened until it was practically predatory and her lips parted to speak, but before she could get a single syllable out of her mouth, Jean reached over whacked Emma solidly on the arm.

"If Emma's through dazzling us all with her wit, let's get back on topic. To answer your question Logan, it's about everything," Scott continued giving Emma the stink-eye one more time before he set about ignoring her all together. "There's truth and there's perception. Ideally the two would meet, would exist in harmony but the reality is that what is true and what is perceived to be true are often not the same," Scott continued beginning to pace. "The truth is that we've saved the world enough times that there should be a statutory holiday named after us."

_~Most of us anyway~_ Kitty thought cutting her eyes at Emma who to her extreme annoyance winked at her in response.

"That's what we do. That's what we're here for. The general public's perception of us is far different, however. As far as most of them are concerned we're freaks … or worse," Scott went on. "The fear is that we're Magneto's waiting happen."

"Still don't explain the tights," Logan grumbled to himself as Scott puffed out his chest chugging ahead with his speech full speed.

"We've been taking it on the chin for so long, just trying to keep them from being wiped out that I think we've forgotten we have a purpose. I know that the rest of the world has," he continued as Emma looked around raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"How dramatic," she drawled a second later. "Certainly I appreciate that," she went on meeting Scott's gaze as much as anyone could. "But I'm not sure the others have gotten your visual metaphor," she continued wiggling her toes in the water that surrounded them, before checking on how her rock – New Zealand it seemed – was doing underneath her.

She'd thought about inquiring about the miniature version of the planet that they were traipsing around on as the others found continents to sit on, but she hadn't thought that she'd actually get a response.

"Actually, that was my doing," Hank interjected before Scott could respond to Emma. "I programmed the Danger Room to replicate Hawaii because I thought it would create a relaxed atmosphere. Obviously I should have been more specific about the scale," he finished watching as Kitty propped her foot on Japan and then sighed wistfully.

"Remember when this place was just flame-throwers and rotating knives? I miss that. Now I have cloud-hair," she bemoaned causing Ororo to smirk.

"If everyone's through digressing, I was in the middle of a speech," Scott sighed before waiting for everyone to turn their attention to him again. "The point is this – we need to get into the world ...saving lives, helping with disaster relief, hell even rescuing cats in trees. We need to present ourselves as a team of bonafide heroes."

"Here come the tights," Logan muttered.

"That's right Logan," Jean piped up quickly when Scott's head whipped around to glare at the man on his left.

Logan and Scott had been getting along better since Jean and Scott's divorce, but they weren't bosom buddies by any stretch of the imagination and Jean wanted to avoid an altercation. She had fallen out of the habit of breaking up fights over the past year since Emma and Logan were able to converse civilly with other, most of the time at least. And, when Emma's sense of humor, did manage to rile Logan up, the two of them still never came close to trading blows. Jean wasn't sure whether it was a result of Logan not wanting to hit a girl, or if it was due to the fact if he tried to hit her Emma would make him think he _was_ a girl, but she was glad that she didn't have to deal with breaking up brawls between them every other day.

"Superheroes wear costumes," Jean continued when Logan turned his attention towards her, breaking the tense eye-contact between himself and Scott. "I know that we already have uniforms, but I can safely tell you that the black leather we've been sporting … well, it makes people nervous. A change is definitely in order."

"So tights," Logan concluded.

"Tights," Jean confirmed before nodding to Scott who grudgingly moved over to the box he had brought in with him.

"I've already got an outfit," Emma drawled as Scott carried the box into the Pacific Ocean and set it down.

"We've made some modifications," Jean replied glancing over at Emma as she struggled to find a way to tell her that her White Queen outfit was far too BDSM and well … slutty, without Emma taking it badly. "Your previous … outfit, doesn't exactly convey the … uh, message we were looking for."

"Yeah, I think we're going more for truth, justice and the American way, than screwing for humanity," Kitty offered remembering exactly what Emma's old outfit looked like … or didn't since there really wasn't much of it to see. She still didn't understand how the bra stayed up. It defied reason … and gravity, and it upset and disturbed Kitty in a deep and enduring way that only Emma Frost was capable of.

"Well I wouldn't," Jean began glancing over at Kitty and frowning slightly as Emma's head snapped around to pierce the brunette with a positively arctic glare. "I mean, granted there _will_ be less boobs," Jean continued feeling that cool gaze turn on her. "But … um, it's still white," she offered shooting Emma her most charming smile. "With a cape," she added hopefully.

_~I thought you liked my outfit~_ Emma thought eying Jean as she moved around the group helping Scott hand out the costumes.

_~Maybe I'm being possessive~_ Jean responded trying to keep her face neutral as she moved among the group. _~Maybe I want to leave marks your other outfit wouldn't hide~_

Emma licked her lips and then gracefully extended her hand to accept the outfit Scott was holding out for her. He waited for a second as if anticipating some kind of sarcastic comment or complaint but she simply said 'thank you' much to his surprise and suspicion.

The truth was that as visually stunning as her other outfit was that it was somewhat impractical at times and it left her physically vulnerable when she was not in her diamond form. It was – difficult as it would be for most of the people in the Danger Room to believe – for sentimental reasons that she was loathe to give up wearing her White Queen outfit. However, if Jean was true to her word, Emma was sure that she could find a way to cope with the loss of her beloved Hellfire attire.

_~Darling, if you keep up such talk I'll have no choice but to strip you naked and ravish you on Russia, spectators be damned~_ Emma mentally drawled to Jean, a pleased smile touching her lips a second later when she saw Jean pause and then breathe in deeply on her way to Ororo.

_~If you come back in your White Queen outfit after they leave … I'll let you~_ Jean purred back, a slight blush touching her fair cheeks as she handed Ororo's new costume to her.

Their psychic link allowed Emma to feel what Jean was feeling as well as to hear the redhead's thoughts, and to her surprise and immense delight she could tell that Jean meant it.

_~The Danger Room isn't exactly secure, Tiger. Someone could walk in on us as I plow your fertile fields~_ Emma sent to Jean, crossing her legs as excitement began to thrum through her body.

Emma herself was not concerned about being caught in the act. As a member of the Hellfire club, she had engaged in erotic activities in rooms full of people before, so the idea of one of their teammates stumbling upon them in throes of passion did not disconcert her at all. In fact, she found the possibility of discovery quite thrilling. She suspected that Jean would not enjoy being found in a compromising position by one of the others however, and felt it was her duty to warn the redhead – even if it meant playing Mistress and Pawn in their bedroom.

_~I know~_ Jean whispered, her mental voice tickling Emma's mind in the most pleasant way. _~That's why I want it. The possibility of discovery is … ~_ Jean moaned softly in her mind, knowing that hearing her excitement would make Emma throb.

As much as the members of the team liked to talk about how selfish Emma could be, in the bedroom the blonde was _very_ giving. Emma found great delight in giving Jean pleasure, to the point where Jean sometimes had to wrestle Emma underneath her in order to touch the blonde – though often Emma exhausted her to such a degree that it was a struggle for Jean simply to remain conscious let alone fight Emma for dominance.

_~You make my heart sing~_ Emma drawled playfully, though the wave of emotion that followed was raw and naked, conveying the utter sincerity of her words.

Jean's eyelashes fluttered and then slipped closed as the wave of love Emma released washed over her. Her telepathy had been a cause of some angst for Jean as an adolescent and then again as an adult. Despite the trouble it sometimes caused, she had been aware of the utility of it however, and had always been grateful for the help it allowed her provide. She had never understood the true beauty of her power until Emma however. She had never comprehended its true splendor until she felt Emma's love flowing over every inch of her. She had heard it said before that there were some things in life that words would never be able to properly express no matter how proficient the artist wielding them, and many times in her life and in her marriage Jean had felt that devastating reality. And, having struggled, as all people struggled, to make herself understood using a medium that could never hope to satisfy a users needs, Jean knew how lucky, how blessed she was that her telepathy now allowed her to feel and express those things that words were too inadequate to convey.

"They're doing it again," Logan complained loudly as Jean and Emma silently stared at each other.

"What?" Scott asked looking between Jean and Emma with a slightly worried expression on his face. The others in the room didn't seem particularly alarmed, but he had never seen Jean zone out so completely before, or Emma for that matter, and it disturbed him a bit.

"That thing that they do, where they stare at each other like nothing else matters in the world until everyone around them feels like insignificant spec of dust, or worse, like a pervy voyeur peeping into people's windows watching them grope on the couch," Kitty responded realizing that Scott probably wouldn't have seen Emma and Jean like that before since he avoided non-work related socializing if he knew that Emma was going to be present. "Hey, does anyone have a sharpie? I wanna give Frosty a mustache."

"Touch me and you'll spend the rest of your life barking at cars and peeing on fire hydrants," Emma declared, suddenly turning to lance Kitty with her piercing blue eyes. "Something in the terrier family I think. They're yappy, aren't they?"

Kitty's eyes narrowed indignantly and Jean sighed softly and took a seat knowing that Emma and Kitty were about to put on quite a show.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Another Day In Paradise  
**Fandom:** X-Men

**Pairing:** Jean/Emma

**Rating:** PG-13

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, the characters belong to Marvel and I'm just borrowing them for a spell.

**Summary:** A brief look into Jean and Emma's life together amid the chaos of life at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. The story is a companion piece to my story _Underneath it All_, and takes place about a year after the events depicted in that story.

xxx

**Part 3**

Frost-Grey Bedroom – Evening

The sun burned brightly where it hung high in the sky, but a light breeze kept the temperature pleasant instead of stifling. The sky was mostly cloudless and the air was rich with the smell of smoke and cooking meat; it pulsed with the sound of conversation, laughter and shrieking children.

It was a picture perfect summer day.

Emma felt as if she had stepped into an episode of a 50s sitcom, and if it had not been for Jean beside her, Emma would have fled from the astral projection the moment she was brought into it.

Jean _was_ by her side however, her hand firmly entrenched in Emma's, and because of this one little fact, Emma had found herself starting to relax, and had eventually started to enjoy herself as they moved through the throngs of people assembled at the Grey family barbeque.

"Who's that?" Emma asked, smiling wickedly as she pointed to a man standing by the deck railing, smoothing his hair down as he looked at his reflection in the sliding glass door.

"Oh god," Jean moaned as she followed Emma's finger to the man in question. "That's Uncle Eli, he's _powerfully_ strange," she continued sighing deeply as Eli shot his reflection fingers guns and then winked at it. "Keep an eye on him if you want to see idiocy made into an art form."

The redhead stopped walking for a moment to focus on the memory they were in. A wry smile touched Jean's lips a few seconds later as she remembered that Uncle Eli had been in fine form this particular family barbeque. It made her glad that Emma wasn't able to interact with the memories because she knew that Eli would've made a complete fool of himself trying to charm and impress the gorgeous blonde, and that it would have been beyond excruciating to watch.

Turning her head to the side, Jean spotted a younger version of herself wandering off into the front yard and grabbed Emma's hand excitedly, tugging on it.

"Come on, this is good. I made Billy cry," the redhead explained sounding extremely pleased as she forced Emma into a jog to keep up with her as they followed the astral projection of her younger self.

Emma looked over at her questioningly. Jean, she had discovered, found it painful herself to see other people make fools of themselves or be otherwise humiliated, so it was surprising to her to see Jean so giddy over the fact that she had made some boy cry when she was ten.

"Look at you," Emma drawled. "All gleeful with malicious intent," she continued smiling when Jean turned to look at her.

"Just wait," Jean said knowing that she must have sounded a bit mean spirited. "You haven't met Billy yet," she continued leading Emma across the street to the walkway that would take them to the park.

She supposed that she could have just skipped ahead in the memory, but half the fun of the astral journey's they took was going through the memories as if they were actually there, taking it all in together.

The astral adventures were something that they had accidentally fallen into one evening when Emma had gone into Jean's mind to try and help her remember an old acquaintance they had bumped into at the theatre. They'd agreed – or she should say Emma had agreed for them – to meet the woman and her husband for drinks after the show, but for the life of her Jean hadn't been able to place the woman, and since Emma had gotten them into the awkward mess, Jean demanded that the blonde help her find a memory of the woman if Emma wanted to sleep in their bed that night.

Working together they were eventually able to determine that the woman had been one of the girls at a soccer camp Jean had attended when she was fifteen. With Emma's help they had been able to locate the memory in a matter of minutes, but instead of returning to the real world to finish watching the show, they had continued to explore Jean's memory of that summer. Emma, blue-blood that she was, had never been to a sleep away summer camp – or any kind of camp – and so she had badgered Jean for details about 'the camp experience'. Jean hadn't particularly liked the show they were at, so she'd indulged Emma's whim and taken the blonde on a little tour, showing her the torturous exercises they were forced to run through, some scrimmages they had gotten into, getting drunk on peach schnapps and going skinny dipping, and a few other memories that stood out from that summer. She'd thought that Emma would get bored with it the more they saw, but to her surprise the blonde was actually quite interested in the adventures her 15 year old self had gotten into and they had stayed happily immersed in her head until the sound of clapping drew them back to reality.

The mind vacations weren't something they indulged in often, but sometimes if they were bored, or just wanted to relax and have a little trip without leaving the mansion, they would escape into Jean's mind for a few hours.

Emma had brought Jean into her mind a few times, but the memories Emma shared were consciously significantly different from Jean's. Emma usually took Jean to different places around the world, a museum in Paris, or a Shinto temple in Japan. It was always the two of them surrounded by nameless people as they explored something beautiful. The only time Emma had brought her to a memory that involved her family and her life before going to University it was of her older brother Christian. He had taken her on a tour of haunted places in Boston when she was twelve, and Jean and the adult Emma had followed the astral projection of the pre-teen Emma and her older brother, listening to the stories Christian told her as a kid. As they moved through the memory, adult Emma added in bits and pieces, fleshing out the memory as she answered Jean's questions about how Christian knew so much about architecture and the like.

It had been delightful, but when they stopped outside of a large historical house and Christian began to tell the story of Flavia Price, a woman who had killed herself inside the house in 1912, Emma's memory had started to loose focus and before Jean could help her steady it they were suddenly in a large tile washroom and Christian was slumped over in a large bathtub, looking deathly pale as blood ran from his wrist down the pristine white side of the bath, forming a glistening red pool on the marble floor.

Jean knew that Christian had survived the suicide attempt, but Emma had pulled them out of her head before they got to his resuscitation, and upon opening their eyes in their bedroom, the blonde had immediately left the bed, walked over to her personal bar and poured them both a drink before turning to Jean and sighing, 'Fuzzy memories' as she lifted the glass of amber liquid in her right hand to her lips and took and large sip.

They hadn't been anywhere but observatories, deserts, beaches and bazaars in Emma's mind since.

"What could this small child have possibly done to make you revel in his misery so?" Emma asked drawing Jean out of her thoughts, the question making Jean focus her attention on the expanse of green grass in front of them before she turned to look at the soccer game being played.

"He said that a girl would never be able to beat a boy at anything other than cooking and probably not even then since the most famous chiefs were men," Jean replied scowling at the astral image of Billy.

Billy had deeply offended her little feminist heart before she even knew what a feminist was, and she had made him pay for it.

"I hope you kicked his ass," Emma commented turning her attention to the game being played, her eyes narrowing frostily as she did.

Little Billy was now officially on her shit list as well.

"Of course," Jean responded. "Gleeful, remember?" she continued as Emma stepped behind her and rested her chin on Jean's shoulder as she hugged her from behind. "I might have also accidentally kicked something else of his," Jean continued, grinning when she felt Emma chuckle.

"You're a dream," the blonde muttered, pressing a gentle kiss to Jean's neck before she lifted her eyes to watch the younger Jean pass the soccer ball through Billy's legs and then meet it behind him before taking off towards the goal post.

"I am pretty amazing," Jean agreed laughing as Emma nudged her ribs playfully at her complete lack of humility.

"I'm your girl," Emma said as the younger Jean scored. "Does that make me amazing too?"

Jean dipped her head down in an attempt to hide the large smile that spread across her lips when Emma referred to herself as 'her girl'. She'd never had cause to doubt Emma's commitment to her. Whenever they were together Emma's love surrounded her like a blanket, warming and comforting her. Still, it pleased Jean and gave her a little thrill to know that Emma thought of herself that way because Jean certainly thought of herself as Emma's.

"No," Jean said seriously, though a small smile was still playing across her lips. She could feel Emma's displeasure at the statement and didn't need to turn around to know that Emma was frowning. "You were amazing way before you met me," Jean went on, her smile growing as she felt Emma relax and snuggle happily against her again. "Not very nice, but …" she continued, laughing as Emma started to tickle her, though it wasn't Emma's roaming hands that stopped her from speaking.

Before she could finish her sentence a piercing buzzing sound filtered into her brain from the world beyond.

"Trouble?" Emma asked with a sigh knowing that Jean was far too young to have encountered an air raid siren during her childhood.

"Probably," Jean replied.

It usually was at the mansion.

"Time to go save the world again," Jean continued out loud once she had drawn them out of her mind.

"Yay," Emma declared without the least bit of enthusiasm.

Jean laughed at that and took her lover's hand into her own as they headed for the door to their room. Whatever the situation was that they were about to be briefed on likely wasn't going to be fun, but with Emma at her side, Jean knew that she would be able to get through anything.

The End


End file.
